Storm in a teacup

Gosh, this News of the World phone hacking scandal is a bit of a shocker, isn’t it? Still, it could be worse. I mean, it’s just pampered celebrities, isn’t it? It’s not like they hacked the voicemails of anyone important. It’s not as if they targeted victims of terrorism or murder. I mean, it’s not as if they got in the way of a police investigation, or gave a dead girl’s family false hope or anything bad like that.

And if they’ve made mistakes, I’m sure they’ll put their hands up and take responsibility for it. They’re not going to start accusing other journalists of lying for suggesting it went deeper than they’d acknowledged.

It’s not as if we don’t have proper regulation for the media anyway. It’s not like journalists who break the rules don’t have to pay.

Even if a few bad eggs do break the law, there’s the police – it’s not as if they’re going to let them get away with it. I mean, it’s not as if they have such cosy relationships with the Murdoch press that they’ll just hush it up and hope it goes away. Not in a million years would the News of the World have the audacity to put the police themselves under surveillance. And if they did – the police would tell us, wouldn’t they?

Anyway, if the situation requires parliamentary scrutiny then our elected representatives will see to it. I mean, it’s not as if MPs are afraid of getting on the wrong side of the News of the World. And it’s not as if the Prime Minister invites people like Rebekah Brooks round for dinner, is it? Imagine that!